Putting my house in order

Tonight I am feeling more relaxed than I have been for quite some time. Why is this you may ask? The answer is simple, because this afternoon I was sent home early and have had some much needed time off to do exactly what I wanted. When my Manager said that I could leave at 2.30, just as I was going for a late lunch, I was not going to argue, and so home I went.

If I had brought my gym stuff, or some CV's with me, I may have gone to the gym or to some agencies to try and look for work, but as it was, by the time I did leave, not having had anything to eat since around 7.45 that morning, I was so hungry that I went straight home. When I got in, it was a quick bite to eat followed by a cup of tea and to check my emails, while my partner went to see one of our neighbours to finish sorting out a problem she had with her computer.

When he got back we decided to go for a drive to have a look at the store I am considering transferring to, to talk to some of the staff. I am glad that I did, since it has put my mind at rest. Initially I was a little reticent about the idea of moving stores, and although I am still not 100 percent certain that this is the right thing to do, it may not be such a bad idea as I thought it might be.

Having had a talk with some of the staff there, I can see that most of the problems at my current store are unique to that one, since for one thing there are more staff, and for another, they don't sell any of the low margin goods that take up so much time for so little money. This store sells only larger items. I may not be the world's expert at these things, but I am getting better all the time, and my knowledge is improving steadily.

I am sure I could learn a great deal from working there. It would also mean a considerable pay rise due to London weighting, although I would have to work weekends. That is the only real problem, plus the fact that the store is further from home. It may not then be as bad as I first thought.

Despite these plusses, at the back of my mind there is still this feeling that I should be looking for a job outside of retail, and that I need to get back into the office routine. It has been difficult these last few weeks, and I am sick and tired of all the problems - difficult customers, the constant battle with dust and grime, not enough staff, heavy lifting which causes endless aches and pains, and not having decent breaks. This all takes its toll, and to be honest, I have had enough. When I am brutally honest, the main reason I am considering staying is convenience, and the fact that I cannot face the idea of going through the interview and job hunting process yet again. I have never been good at interviews, and yet I have so much to offer an employer, with my experience in sales and customer service, and superb track record. If I remain here I will be selling myself desperately short, when I am worth so much more.

When I got home, I spent an hour or so surfing the web looking at the various job sites. I applied for three other jobs - one arranging appointments for a team of sales staff over the phone, following up email enquiries from potential clients, one doing telesales, and one as a customer service agent for a major insurance company. I will continue to keep an eye on these sites, and make the effort to visit some agencies this week, stop being so complacent, and see what else is out there.

When I think about it, there are quite a lot of things that I can and could do other than retail, and I would rather be in an office environment, where it is far less stressful, with better pay and conditions, and far more suitable to my needs. At this time in my life I need routine and stability rather than excitement and stress. My current job is suited more to young people than the middle aged, who cannot keep pace with the technology and do not have the same level of understanding.

A sense of not knowing

I have been meaning to write this blog almost every night last week, but somehow I have just been too tired. One way and another, it has once again been one hell of a week. Now that I am sitting here writing, I don't know where to begin, or what to say.

Following the wafflers departure from work just over 10 days ago, things have continued much as they were. This week has seen just two of us in each day, the results of which have been such tiredness that I have not known. The last time I remember feeling anywhere like this was when I returned from Canada in 1990 after a series of night flight across the country from Newfoundland to Toronto, and then a connecting flight on to London. I arrived home around 10 o'clock in the morning, and somehow or other managed to stay awake until 6pm, when I finally went to bed. I was so tired that I slept right through until midday the following day! This time though there has been no such respite, as with so much on my mind, I have been unable to sleep at all, and when I do awake, it is back to work where there has been no rest at all.

I have been so tired at times that I have almost been crying with exhaustion, so it was with great relief that I finished work at 5.30pm on Friday, for 2 days off. The weather has been amazing this week; hot sunshine with temperatures in their 80's and cloudless blue skies. I have found myself looking for excuses to visit the box room on the flat roof at work, and selling products off the shelf, so that I can get outside for a few brief moments.

It has been a good weekend of doing not much at all, and I am feeling much better after two days of rest. I have spent time lounging around in the sun, listening to music, enjoying the company of nature and the sound of the the birds.

Today was our annual village fair, and very good it was too. I missed last year's since I was visiting my favourite island (a lot of time has also been spent in front of the camera cupboard this week). I wish I was there now in this glorious weather, sitting on the stile that overlooks Acklands Moor, watching the sun sink slowly beneath the horizon, and the red streak across the sky.

The fair though was good, with stalls from most of the local groups, as well as local growers and producers hawking their wares. Entertainment was laid on for both kids and adults, with a dog show, as well as a display of hawks, plus snakes and crocodiles. The hawks were amazing, but I didn't have the courage to go near the snakes, much less stroke them.

The weekend is almost over, and tomorrow a new week begins. Thankfully there will be three of us in, since my Manager is back from his holidays, and our weekend assistant, who normally works only on Saturdays will be covering days off. This means that I can finally have a decent lunch break and get out in the sun at lunchtime, sitting in the church yard and having the chance to relax and enjoy the sun and the small pleasures in life. I did not realise how much lunch breaks are needed, and do not know how so many employees seem to manage without them. I have made a mental note to make sure that from now on, no matter which job I end up in, I will make sure that I take all the breaks to which I am entitled, and also make sure that I am paid for those that I do not take. Thankfully my boss will be seeing to it that I shall be paid for the extra hour for each day last week.

There is still no news re our closing date, and this is really beginning to wear us all down. There is a new moon with partial solar eclipse this Friday, 1st August, so will this be the day? I hope so, as I don't know how much longer I can go on like this, with this sense of not knowing.

In the s***

Well, the last few days at work have been completely hectic. I am cream crackered and that's no lie. The reason for this is that the waffler has finally put us out of our misery and left - a week and a half early, in not the most considerate of ways.

He did not turn up on Wednesday because his girlfriend had problems with the baby she is expecting. That is fair enough, but he did not ring us at lunch time as promised to let us know what the situation was, or if he would be in later on. It is not the first time he has done this, as he recently took four days off, he said, due to sunstroke.

He has though gone and gone for good. He was working out 2 weeks notice, and so was due to go at the end of next week anyway, but decided that he wanted to go now, and start his new job on Monday, as they originally requested him to do. This has left us all right in the proverbial as with the closure looming over our heads everyone else is going too.

Our Assistant Manager was offered another job yesterday, so he will be handing in his notice, and all that leaves is the Store Manager, myself and our weekend assistant, who works on Saturdays, and he will be leaving us soon as well, to go to university. The waffler just had so many chances and seemed hell bent on self destruction. He repeatedly went off sick, without bothering to keep us informed, went against company policy by offering to deliver goods after work for extra cash, when the company did not insure him to do so, did not look after his appearance or even bother to wash his uniform, which stunk to high heaven, and proved time and time again that he was a liar and a blagger who just could not be trusted.

That proved to be his undoing, as due to his actions, our boss did not believe a word he said, and so each time he went off sick, and did not bother to keep us informed, he did not pay him. He was perfectly within his rights to do this, as technically it was unauthorised absence. The waffler felt that he was being victimised, and what with everything else that was going on in his life, rather than stay and do the right thing, by facing up to his responsbilities, he left and just ran away.

We are without a doubt much better off without him, but to leave in this way leaves a nasty taste in the mouth and is just bad manners. My Manager was so angry that he practically threw him out of the store, and given our situation, I can't say I blame him.

The waffler has just been so stupid though, since he had the offer of a transfer to another store within walking distance of his home, where he could have a big pay rise due to London weighting, and a real future. He has also thrown away the chance to earn a large bonus, which he may have qualified for had he stayed that extra week. He has chucked this all away to go and work with a group of bitchy women, with a Manager who criticised a member of her staff for wanting to go fishing instead of going out with her so called mates from work to get drunk! I guess if that is what he wants, it is not for me to judge ...

Because of his actions, my Manager and I have had one hell of a last 3 days. It has been just the 2 of us in since Wednesday, and neither of us have had a break at all. It has been a real struggle, and as I write this, I am so tired that I am struggling to keep my eyes open. It will be another early night tonight, straight after EastEnders, and a very lazy weekend.

If I hadn't gone in today, which was supposed to be my day off, then we would have had to close the store, since our Assistant Manager is on a training course, and my own boss could not run the store on his own. There will be just 2 of us in next week as well, as our weekend assistant is unable to do any overtime until the following week. This will mean more missed lunch breaks (thankfully I will be paid for these), and being unable to get out of the store to look for another job, or attend any interviews should Waterstones ring. I had to ring my partner yesterday as it was, and ask him to go and deliver the application form, since if I had waited much longer than I could have missed the boat. I don't know after all how long that sign has been up for.

My Manager and I then have not had a good week and are not happy people. I have to be careful of what I write and say though, since I was getting rid of some old flyers today and stood right in a pile of fox s*** which must have climbed over the fence! I was tempted to rub it off on the bag that contained the wafflers uniform that he had left behind, but even I am not that cruel, so I wiped it off on the flyers instead and then washed my shoes and hands ...

Still you know what they say, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going, and I am nothing else if not tough. If all else fails I can always apply for a job with the new lease holders and serve coffee all day! This could though be an opportunity to prove my mettle which could work to my advantage, since not only has it given me the chance to earn more money (my Manager has asked me to work full time until the shut down), but if I continue to do as well as I have done, then I stand a much better chance of getting a transfer when the time does come. I must be mad to even think of staying with this company. You know what they say, you don't have to be mad to work here, but it helps!

Wish me luck!

It has been a week now since I got back from Lundy, and somehow I have not felt like blogging at all. Neither can I be bothered to keep looking to see what is happening in the book world, the impetus to do these things just seems to have gone. It just doesn't seem important.

For the first two days after I got back, it felt like I was on cloud nine. I was bursting with energy and confidence, and got some really good sales at work. Then Wednesday came, and with it my day off, and something seemed to shift. It seemed like there was so much to do - go the gym, get the food shopping, go to Edenbridge to get the books that my friend Sue had not sold at the Winchester Book Festival. It was chucking down with rain as well which didn't help. I found myself loitering on the computer just to fill in the time, and using it as a distraction, which is a bad habit of mine, and one that I need to break.

When I went back to work on Thursday then the sense of melancholy and disquiet had returned with a vengeance, and most of my get up and go had well, got up and gone. On Friday I was booked to go to a quarterly training event. This was kind of like a roadshow/training day with different suppliers. Staff were split into teams of 4, where they went around the different stands learning about the products and being tested on what they have learnt, with prizes for the best teams and the most interactive individuals.

It was a fun day I suppose, but also a bit overwhelming, as there were over 400 of us there, with 14 stands for us to get through (I was paired with three members of staff from a nearby superstore). I learnt a lot and met some interesting people, but it seemed very rushed, and they insisted on playing this excruciatingly loud music as we rushed between stands. My team did not win anything, but on a personal level, I did win some gift vouchers for use online.

The other thing that happened on Thursday, which I admit has knocked me for six, and made me think, is the fact that the waffler has got another job, and will be leaving us in 2 weeks. I am glad in many ways that he is, especially after today, when he once again took one of my sales, having butted in during my conversation with the customer and stolen them away, but in some ways it is not good at all. It will be very difficult if not impossible to find a replacement with the closure looming over us, the date for which has still not been announced, and so this means that the two Managers and I will have to struggle on as a team of three during the shut down phase, with on days off, just 2 members of staff and half hour lunch breaks, being unable to get out of the store and look for another job during this critical phase.

I am then feeling mighty peed off, as his announcement has really brought home the reality of the situation I was facing. Looking at it philosophically though, I have learnt a lot from being here on a personal level, so maybe it is time for me to move on. Perhaps I was only supposed to be here for a short period of time to learn what I needed to learn, and so that some of my energy and some of my wisdom could rub off on my colleagues. My Manager and I have had some interesting chats lately, where I have realised just how similar our views are on so many things. I am sure I do not remember him being like this when I started in this job 8 months ago, but then again, a situation like this does make you stop and take stock of your life and think about many things on a deeper level.

It is difficult though not to get peed off when the lease for your store runs out in less than 2 weeks, and your company have still not told you anything about the hell is going on other than the fact that the landlord is waiting for someone else to sign it. It feels like my last job all over again, and don't whatever to you get me started on that!

That is where I am then today. The other thing that I must mention, which I am very excited about, is that at lunch time today (and that is the other thing that pees me off about the waffler - he takes his lunch at 1pm every day, meaning that I have to either go early at 12 noon when I am not hungry, or inevitably wait until 2pm, or even later to get mine, by which time I am starving), I had the strangest feeling that I needed to go to Waterstones. So I trotted up there, not really knowing why, as I had no intention of buying books, only to see a sign in the window, full time book seller wanted. My evenings task then is to fill in my application form and take it back tomorrow.

How wonderful that would be from both an authors and book lovers point of view, to work for Britain's largest and most influential book seller. Wish me luck !

Homeward Bound

Sunday 6th July

That was Friday and this is Sunday. I am back now, and the island feels a million miles away. Tomorrow it is back to work, and it will all seem like a dream. Is the time that we take away from it all an illusion, or is life itself an illusion? Is there a difference? I think the answer to both is yes, it is all illusion, every single moment of our lives, as we give all the meaning to everything, investing time and energy in constructing stories about our lives, based on the past and the future, but never the present moment, when the present moment is the only thing that we have got. That is the one thing that these last 2 weeks has given me; an ability to live in and for the moment. I just hope that I will be able to continue this in my ‘normal’ life and not slip back into my old ego centred ways of worrying what other people do, think and say, when it is none of my business, and none of it really matters.

It has been as usual then, one hell of an adventure, an adventure that was cut short by around five hours. On Friday afternoon, the wind changed direction from south westerly to south east, and a gale warning was also in place. Now in the good old days this would have meant an extra night on the island, as when the wind blew into the bay, before the jetty was built, the boat would have unable to dock. Now that the jetty is there, it is still difficult, but not impossible. Still, with the weather set to get worse, as it stood on Friday night, there was a distinct possibility of being helicoptered off.

Part of me hoped that this would happen, as one look at the sea convinced me that I did not want to be out there on that boat, for any amount of time. When the man came though to collect the luggage just after 9am, he informed me that we would indeed be sailing, but at 12 noon instead of 5pm, and that we had to be on the beach for 11.30am, half hour before sailing as usual.

I didn’t bother trying to clean the cottage then, but said goodbye to it, and closed the door behind and just walked to the Tavern as quickly as I could. It was a struggle in places walking down the track, the wind was so fierce, although I have seen worse, but once there, the news was confirmed. It was time then for a cup of tea and to pay my shop and Tavern bills, and say goodbye to the islanders plus my friends Peter and Pat, and then walk down to the beach.

I always like to get there a little early to spend time pottering along the beach as a way to say goodbye properly. It somehow seems fitting that I should do this, say goodbye to the island on my own on the beach, as this is where I arrive, and so in a sense, where it ends as well as begins. I also like to have a paddle in the sea to feel the cold water on my feet and the sand between my toes.

As I rolled my socks up though and put on my shoes, it began to rain, and well, it did not stop raining for most of the 7 hours that we were on that boat. It was quite possibly the worst crossing I have had, and I have had some pretty awful ones in my times (14 hours overnight to Shetland, 4 hours in an open fishing boat to Fair Isle and so on). We sailed for an hour and a half to Clovelly, where we dropped anchor and had to wait a further three hours for the tide to change, so that we could then sail up the River Torridge to Bideford.

When we got on board, the Captain announced that he didn’t need to tell us the conditions were rough, and he was right, it was rough with a capital R! The winds tossed the ship back and forth and the waves came over the side and pretty soon the decks were drenched, and not just with sea water! There was a party of school kids travelling back from the island, and they were really suffering. I didn’t fare much better, but what made it worse was having breakfast so early in the cottage, meant that there nothing in my stomach, and so I was heaving on an empty stomach and just acid was coming out, leaving a horrible taste in the mouth. I am sorry to be so graphic, but well, there is no point in pulling any punches.

By the time we dropped anchor, and the queue for the buffet had subsided enough for me to think about joining it, they had run out of veggie pasties completely (I am supposed to be wheat free, but in certain situations you just have to sod it, and eat what you can). The only other hot food on the menu was bacon sandwiches and sausage rolls, and so I had to content myself with a mug of cup a soup and bag of crisps, and that was all I had during the entire 7 hour journey (plus a cup of tea and a cereal bar very kindly bought for me by another passenger).

By the time I finally got off the boat in Bideford just before 7pm, I was soaked to the skin, shivering all over and starving hungry, so I got my bags, walked back to the car, and then went to the nearest fish and chip shop I could find. It was some of the best food I have ever eaten in my life. Back at the hotel where I was staying, an hour later, it was a hot shower and a phone call home and then bed.

How nice it was to fling back the curtains at 8am this morning to blue skies and to see the island on the horizon once again. It was almost as if she was saying to me, ‘yes I am still here, and I will always be here when you need me’, and so she will be. An hour and a half later I was on my way home. The journey was uneventful, and just after 3.15 I walked through the door. It is good to be back with the man I love and be in familiar surroundings once again. The pictures are brilliant, some of which you can see here, and the memories shall sustain me through the months to come until I am back on the island once again.

It sounds mad after that sea crossing, and only another Lundy lover would understand, but if I could get back on that boat right now and sail back, and not have to worry about work, or any of that, then I would do it in a heartbeat.

A change in the weather

Friday 4th July

Yesterday was such a perfect day, with intense blue skies, and clear views of the mainland, that I had the feeling today might bring a change, and it has indeed. As I write, the winds have moved from south westerly round to the east with squally showers and dull grey skies. It looks then as if we might have to be helicoptered off. The decision will be made after 9am tomorrow though, as late as they can manage really, as if there is any chance at all of using the boat they will take it. The helicopter does after all cost an awful lot of money – something like £1100 an hour I believe, and they do not want to spend this sort of cash if they can avoid it. In fact as I write, a light aircraft is circling the island, several have been around this last week, but none as far as I know have landed. I do not know when the Lundy Flying Day will be this year, but I will miss it anyway, so it matters not.

Back then to today – it has been a quiet and uneventful last day, as they tend to be. I had a late start after a late night to watch the sunset and the stars, both of which were spectacular (another sign of an imminent change in the weather). I was just drifting off to sleep as well, around 11.30pm when my neighbours from the Old Light, who have young children in tow and should have known better, decided to start taking flash photographs of the Old Light at night and talking in loud voices just outside my kitchen window. It obviously did not occur to them that someone may be in the cottage trying to sleep, although I don’t know why not, since I had spoken to them earlier that evening and they knew that I was staying here. I guess as always, people just do not stop to think. The rain is coming down again as I write this.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, this resulted in me not emerging from bed until almost 9am. It was a cloudy day though, and I had done virtually all the walking I wanted to, so I was in no hurry.

After breakfast then and a quick shower I set out across the south west field aiming to try and get down to Montagu Steps. This is about the only place (along with Pilots Quay and Lametry – some places are just a little beyond me) that I have not managed to get down to. The rain is really coming down now thick and fast and battering against the windows, and the wind is rattling the windows – I think they will be shut tonight!

Found the path anyway and ventured down as far as the cliff edge, where the path just seemed to disappear. There seemed to be a sort of isthmus that one had to scramble over and then presumably the steps were over the top of that, but it was too windy for me to think about trying to get down. That, along with the base of the Pyramid (I almost got there on Wednesday) will have to wait for another time, when I am feeling braver, the sun is out, and there is an easterly wind. It does occasionally happen!

I then went on the Castle and down to Bensons Cave when I realised that it was almost low tide, so walked quickly back home, made a hasty lunch of cheese salad, chucked waterproofs and water bottle into my backpack and off I went back down to the Beach to get pictures of Lametry (from the South Light) at low tide. The skies were beginning to turn a very dark shade of grey as I made my way back up the path.

I couldn’t decide whether to go home for a cup of tea or go to the Tavern, but I decided on the Tavern when another couple walked past and went inside. It was then Liz told me about the helicopters tomorrow and that the weather was going to change, and almost on cue that was when the wind seemed to shift from west to east. Rather than walk home in the squall I then spent the afternoon with Peter and Pat in Big St Johns, who are moving to Hamners tomorrow for their final week. After all, I may not get to see them for another year, and maybe not then.

They are coming back on June 13th for 3 weeks again, as there is wedding on 5th July for which the whole island they tell me, is booked, so that may limit my own choices then of when to come back. I was thinking maybe the following week, although that would take me into high season for the 2nd week, when the prices go through the roof. I would also mean going home on the double turnaround, and so less hanging about and possibly less time off from whatever work I am doing this time next year. With the way things are (yet again) at the moment, almost anything can happen, and I am open to whatever the universe (well almost) throws at me.

That then has been the sum total of my last day on this years summer sojourn to Lundy and it is with great sadness, but tinged with acceptance that this time tomorrow I shall be back on the mainland with fond memories of these two last two weeks. Those memories, together with my photographs shall sustain me through the dark winter weeks to come, until I can return again, hopefully in November.

Sunshine and showers

Thursday 3rd July

The last few days have seen a mixture of sunshine and showers, making it very difficult to know what to wear. If you wear long trousers then your legs are insulated against the cold winds, but if you wear shorts then you don’t have to worry about carrying waterproof trousers. On the other hand though, when you stop, waterproof trousers are a very useful thing to sit on!

Yesterday though I lost count of how many miles I walked. I started off around 10.30 I suppose, aiming to get to the North End in time for lunch. At the viewpoint just south of Jenny’s Cove, at the top of the Earthquake Zone I met another strange couple, the female half of which was wearing a long skirt and sitting on one of those portable seat things, and the male half of which was just standing beside her, not really wanting her to be there, but humouring her anyway. I can tell these things from reading people’s body language you know. I wanted to try and take some pictures of myself at said viewpoint, and so being the cruel person that I am, sat down beside them knowing that would be the quickest way to send them on their way! It worked as within five minutes they were scurrying away, her encumbered by one of the largest day sacks I have seen, and him carrying her seat! Some people really are very strange indeed.

Anyway, I proceeded to take pictures of myself, and very good they were too, and after about 10 minutes walked on to Punchbowl Valley and on to Halfway Wall. There they were again, with her once again sitting on her seat! The sun came out and so off came my hooded jacket which was tied around my waist. No sooner did I do that than the rain clouds appeared and unleashed their watery content on myunsuspecting head. On once again with the hoody and the waterproofs and sheltered for a while at Halfway Wall before the sun came out once again and I trooped down to the Pyramid for a look at the waves.

I could see from the top of the cliffs that the waves were spectacular, as they have been for most of the week with the strong south westerly winds, but when I got to the bottom they looked even better. When I was halfway down the sun came out again, and so it was another half hour sitting on the Pyramid to recover my breath and my composure, followed by a scramble all the way round to the next cove (not sure what it is called) where the views were almost as spectacular there. I must have scrambled all the way round to St Marks Stone looking at the map, where I met you guessed it, the strange couple once again, who were looking at me with a rather bemused expression as I scrambled back up the cliff face following a rather haphazard goat track and surprised them as they sat on a rather large chunk of rock, well he did anyway, she was perched on her chair alongside him (of course). Oh well, each to their own …

Onwards and upwards I trooped anyway, eventually reaching the North End, through a series of small rain showers by around 1.10pm. Then it was down to the Lighthouse for lunch (salmon paste with rice cakes and a small salad washed down by water with a slice of lemon) and then down to the landing stage to look for seals. There was already a couple down there, but I didn’t care, I went down anyway and sat on the bottom steps just above the stage, as the waves were tremendous and I didn’t want the salt water to ruin my camera. I spent a happy half hour photographing a group of three seals, trying unsuccessfully to get all three in the frame (must remember to try the burst mode later today at Brazen Ward) before the rain started to come down once again, this time a lot heavier. Let it never be said that June is not a hardy soul, as on went my waterproofs and I sat tight for another 20 minutes or so bravely photographing the seals, with my camera inside my slightly unzipped waterproof jacket. After a while I got fed up though, and so trooped back to the top, only to get waylaid by a group of razorbills perched on the cliffs halfway up the path. I finally got to the top of the cliffs (all 400 steps, I counted them) thoroughly wet but exhilarated and collapsed in a heap inside John O’Groats house for some more water and my Satsuma’s.

It was then of course that the sun came out again – how annoying. I toyed briefly with the idea of going down again, but couldn’t face the thought of coming back all those steps a second time, and so took pictures of myself by the North End Rock itself, and the top of the steps themselves as they go down. And then I trooped slowly back home in the sunshine and the wind, getting waylaid by various landmarks on the way, such as the ruins of an old field system, ancient burial mounds, goats, birds and so on.

I finally trooped through the door around 5.50 pm footsore and weary and realised that before I could cook I would have to do the washing up. Washing up done it was time to wash my dirty clothes and hang them up to dry, and then I could finally get some food. It is the time of the week when sadly I am beginning to use things up, and so last night it was pasta with roast vegetable sauce followed by tinned fruit salad with angel delight, and a nice hot cup of tea.

A little later on I strolled out again in the sunshine following yet another shower, to watch the sunset and take some pictures of myself silhouetted against the sky in various poses (arms outstretched, prayer position etc) – my feet got soaking wet in the process – shoes were still damp this morning and are drying on top of the fire as I write. Still it gave me an excuse to put off going out in the wind, and to write this, and write this I have. The shoes are now dry, and the house is nice and warm. The seals at Brazen Ward, which will hopefully be out of the wind, are calling, and so I am off to explore. Tomorrow is the last proper day, and oh how I will miss this place. Still, as I always say though, if you don’t leave then you can’t some back, and back I shall be just as soon as I can manage.